Experiencing Snow Country Culture at Hakkaisan Brewery’s “Uonuma no Sato” Complex
Dec 22,2022
Rice and water are indispensable to sake making. That’s why sake brewers have traditionally operated in places where the rice and water are both excellent. Deeply rooted in the community, they enjoy a symbiotic relationship with local producers and the natural surroundings.
One such sake maker is Hakkaisan Brewery Co., Ltd., headquartered in Minami-Uonuma, Niigata Prefecture. By drawing on the traditional wisdom and culture that are the heritage of this snowbound land, it has brought the world many fine sakes, Hakkaisan among them.
Hakkaisan Brewery wants people to have a chance to unwind when visiting Uonuma, the place that it calls home. It therefore runs a leisure complex called Uonuma no Sato, which brims with appreciation to and affection for the community.
The goal: to create an attraction that gives back to Uonuma.
Uonuma no Sato originated in 2004, when the company built the No. 2 Kowa Brewery at the complex’s present location at the foot of Mount Hakkai. It initially had no intention of creating the kind of tourist attraction that the place has become today. It simply set up a facility for brewing a better sake by applying the technical expertise it had built up over the years. So explains Yano Yoko of Hakkaisan Brewery’s Uonuma no Sato planning office.
Later, several traditional old houses were dismantled and rebuilt on the site. One was turned into the restaurant Sobaya Nagamori, which serves soba noodles that nicely complement sake. Another became the confectioner Satoya, which gives demonstrations of how to make the German cake Baumkuchen. The complex thus began to assume its present form.
“Uonuma no Sato got started with construction of our new production hub, No. 2 Kowa Brewery. A growing number of people requested to tour the brewery, but we turned them down at first. We felt bad when we did, though, because they’d come all the way just to visit us. So gradually we put in place facilities for visitors.”
Uonuma no Sato now consists of sixteen facilities built around No. 2 Kowa Brewery, which mainly produces regular Hakkaisan sake and premium Tokubetsu Honjozo.
Yukimuro Wagyu Uchiyama, which consists of a “snow cellar” for storing Niigata beef and other meats, a factory, a shop, and restaurant
The Hakkaisan Company Cafeteria, which is also open to visitors
Hakkaisan Yukimuro, which houses a shochu cellar, a cafe, a souvenir shop, and a kitchenware store
“Why does Hakkaisan Brewery make such fine sake? It’s thanks to the water and climate here, the local rice growers, and the people who live in the community. We’re deeply grateful to Uonuma, and we pride ourselves on being a company that’s knows exactly what makes this place special. We hope to give back to the community by attracting more people to spend time in Uonuma. We want them to be aware of the magic of the place and the time-honored folk wisdom that lives on here.”
Experience the lifestyle and culture of Japan’s snow country while strolling around the facilities.
Uonuma no Sato is dotted with attractions. The Fukasawahara Distillery produces authentic kasutori shochu—shochu distilled solely from sake lees—and authentic rice shochu made from unrefined sake. Confectioner Satoya serves confections made using sake and sake lees. Hachikura is a gift-themed store offering a full lineup of wrapping paper.
There’s also the Sarukurayama Brewery, where the craft brew Rydeen Beer is made. You can drop by the bar to enjoy freshly brewed beer with snacks.
The name “Rydeen” derives from the Spring of Raiden the Thunder God, a renowned spring in Minami-Uonuma used as a source of water for brewing.
The Hakkaisan Company Cafeteria is also open to the general public. It serves set meals featuring an entrée of meat or fish prepared with salted koji or Hakkaisan amazake, side dishes, and Koshihikari rice grown in Minami-Uonuma.
Sake brewery workers customarily take their meals together. Doing so, they say, has a bonding effect that makes for a better sake. Eating in the company cafeteria gives you an inkling of a sake brewery’s distinctive vibe. It’s a corporation, yet it’s just like a family business.
“Walkways have been built in the vicinity where you can enjoy strolling in natural surroundings. When the weather is nice, you can enjoy a walk in the woods while admiring the alpine scenery. There are beautiful flowers in bloom and even a Shinto shrine. You’ll get a sense of what life is like in Uonuma.”
The best way to experience the time-honored wisdom of the snow country of Uonuma is to visit the Hakkaisan Yukimuro. A yukimuro, literally “snow cellar,” is a storage facility chilled with snow and used to keep vegetables and sake in the naturally cooled air. This practice has endured since olden times in snowbound regions of Japan.
Until electric refrigerators became common, snow cellars were used in ordinary homes to store vegetables and such in winter. Not only does keeping food in a snow cellar protect it against the winter cold. It also has the advantage of making food taste better by aging it.
The Hakkaisan Yukimuro stores a thousand metric tons of snow. The snow is replenished once a year.
“The snow chamber and snow storage facility are in the same space. The interior is kept cool and humid year-round, being maintained at a constant temperature of four degrees Celsius. The storage facility has twenty tanks, with enough capacity to store 360,000 liters of sake in total. Some of the cold air from the snow storage facility is channeled to the cold room of the adjacent shop, Yukimuro Sennen Kojiya.”
Staff give free tours of the snow storage facility ten times a day, so you can experience a natural refrigerator literally in the flesh. The facility is a testament to the wisdom of the people who live in the snow country. (Same-day bookings are required and processed on a first-come, first-served basis.)
Advancing into the future with Uonuma
Once you’ve finished your snow cellar tour and exit the snow storage facility, you come to the shochu cellar. Here the spirit is slowly aged in oak barrels to bring out a deeper flavor. That’s the Hakkaisan way. There’s a counter in one corner where you can sample Hakkaisan’s offerings.
You can sample and compare sakes aged for three and eight years and stored in the snow cellar.
Adjacent to the barrels, there are shelves holding bottle after bottle of the custom-distilled authentic kasutori shochu Menko Mirai, which has a wonderfully rich aroma. The spirit is stored here until the year and month specified by the purchaser.
“Shochu can be stored here for up to five years. We deliver it to the customer in the specified year and month for an anniversary or special occasion. It’s a popular present, especially as it comes with a message written by the customer. This commemorative shochu is inspired by dreams for tomorrow. While lovingly safeguarding it, we look forward to advancing into the future with Uonuma.”
